Abstract
This paper presents an experimental study of the compression behavior of a typical warp-knitted spacer fabric which is specially developed as a cushioning material for human body protection. The fabric has a highly heterogeneous and discontinuous structure and exhibits a complicated compression behavior. Different test boundary conditions and sample sizes were first adopted to conduct compression tests of the fabric. Then, the compression behavior of the fabric was analyzed based on its compression load-displacement curve obtained under a selected test condition. The potential compression mechanism of the fabric was identified with support of the image analysis of the fabric structure at different compression stages. The study provides some useful information for designing warp-knitted spacer fabrics for impact protection.